North Korean nuclear weapon program

It's producing 330 pounds of enriched uranium per year: report

(Newser) -
If it doesn't already , North Korea will have the makings for 20 nuclear bombs by the end of the year, experts predict in a new report. The country is believed to be producing 330 pounds of highly enriched uranium per year at one or two sites—enough for six...
More »

Yongbyon reactor could yield 13 pounds per year

(Newser) -
North Korea is showing no signs of abandoning its quest for nuclear weapons. A State Department official tells Reuters the country has restarted a 5-megawatt nuclear reactor at its main nuclear complex at Yongbyon to get plutonium. The International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday there were "indications" that was...
More »

Leader calls on military to be ready to strike against US, South Korea

(Newser) -
Kim Jong Un says North Korea has miniaturized nuclear warheads to mount on ballistic missiles and wants the military ready to mount preemptive attacks against the US and South Korea in response to joint military drills started this week. "The nuclear warheads have been standardized to be fit for...
More »

'We do not have any interest at all,' says rep

(Newser) -
US officials wondering whether the landmark nuclear deal with Iran would make North Korea reconsider its own nuclear program have their answer: Absolutely not. Though North Korea, like its ally Iran, is sanctioned by the US, EU, and UN, a foreign ministry rep for Pyongyang says its development of nuclear...
More »

... and 'reckless, grotesque, horrendous'

(Newser) -
US Secretary of State John Kerry today accused North Korea of a litany of crimes and atrocities while reassuring South Korea of America's "ironclad" security commitments. Kerry blamed North Korea for breaking promises, making threats, and showing "flagrant disregard for international law" by continuing to build its...
More »

No more need for imports that can be monitored: report

(Newser) -
International authorities have for years used export and trade sanctions to keep North Korea from building a nuclear weapon; just today, Chinese officials posted 236 pages of materials barred from export to the North. But such methods might be pointless: Pyongyang appears capable of making important centrifuge parts on its...
More »

Satellite image suggests Pyongyang is probably restarting reactor

(Newser) -
A fresh satellite image shows white steam coming from a building in North Korea, and a US research group says that likely means the country is nearly ready to restart a reactor capable of producing plutonium—or may have already started it. "The white coloration and volume are consistent...
More »

Pyongyang warns it could nuke Tokyo over the 'slightest move'

(Newser) -
After threatening the United States and South Korea with nuclear strikes, North Korea nearly forgot its other favorite target—Japan. That oversight has been corrected now, though, as the Korean Central News Agency today warned that Tokyo will be its first target if Japan keeps up its "hostile posture"...
More »

Beijing losing patience with Pyongyang

(Newser) -
Tensions on the Korean peninsula eased marginally today after South Korean officials backed off earlier reports that Pyongyang was getting ready for another missile test. A top official told reporters that he had misspoken when he said there was an "indication" that another test was imminent , and had been...
More »

Ban Ki-moon fears country is on a 'collision course'

(Newser) -
The latest in the almost-daily series of threats from Pyongyang is a vow to restart its Yongbyon nuclear reactor and other facilities to "bolster up the nuclear armed force" and provide electricity, according to a rep for the country's Department of Atomic Energy. The Yongbyon reactor was shut...
More »

Pyongyang calls nukes a 'treasure' that won't be surrendered

(Newser) -
In a move seen as a clear warning to Pyongyang, the US deployed F-22 stealth fighter jets during joint military exercises yesterday. The Raptors, which are among the most advanced weapons the Air Force has at its command, would probably be the first aircraft deployed if a conflict did take...
More »

And lawmaker says Pyongyang has missile that could reach US

(Newser) -
If the US boosts its missile defenses in reaction to North Korea's threats, a plan revealed last week and confirmed by Chuck Hagel on Friday, it will just make the situation worse, China is warning today. The move, which would bring the total number of US interceptors to 44...
More »

Says it's unlikely to find a 'smoking gun' at this point

(Newser) -
Plutonium or uranium: Which was the fissile material North Korea used in last month's nuclear test ? We may never know, says a nuclear watchdog agency. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization hasn't found any "smoking gun" radioactive traces yet, and acknowledges that "it is...
More »

Security Council OKs crackdown unanimously

(Newser) -
North Korea's threat of a pre-emptive nuclear strike apparently didn't exactly strike fear in the heart of the UN Security Council, which approved harsh new sanctions on Pyongyang shortly after it convened at 10am EST this morning. The joint US-China resolution passed unanimously, reports the AP , and comes...
More »

Threat of pre-emptive strike comes ahead of UN vote on sanctions

(Newser) -
North Korea is threatening to hit the US with a pre-emptive nuclear strike, reports the AP , accusing Washington of attempting to provoke war and vowing that it will "destroy the strongholds of the aggressors." If the North actually possesses the technology to carry through on its threat, that'...
More »

As US-China proposal on new sanctions goes to UN today

(Newser) -
The US and China have settled on a new round of sanctions against North Korea, and Pyongyang is responding by ratcheting up its usual bluster, threatening to cancel the 1953 ceasefire that ended the Korean War if sanctions go forward and US-South Korean military drills that began March 1 continue....
More »

Pyongyang propaganda also warns Korean peninsula near 'explosion'

(Newser) -
Pyongyang has a message for the US: North Korea has become a "fully-independent rocket and nuclear weapons state," according to an official website—and America "should be acutely aware that the US mainland is now well within the range of our strategic rockets and nuclear weapons."...
More »

Video game theme accompanies images of troops on fire

(Newser) -
Just in case North Korea's propaganda video of the US in flames left anybody in doubt about Pyongyang's feelings toward America, a sequel now shows President Obama and American troops in flames. The video—which plays the theme music from the videogame Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion—ends with...
More »

Cover over tunnel entrance hides it from spy satellites

(Newser) -
With North Korea promising to conduct a third nuclear test soon, international intelligence communities have been looking for a telltale sign: Sealing the mouth of the newest of three underground tunnels at the country's Punggye-ri would indicate the country is ready to go. But it looks like the always-secretive...
More »